Eavesdropping At The Movies

  • Autor: Vários
  • Narrador: Vários
  • Editor: Podcast
  • Duración: 287:13:32
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Sinopsis

"I have this romantic idea of the movies as a conjunction of place, people and experiences, all different for each of us, a context in which individual and separate beings try to commune, where the individual experience overlaps with the communal and where that overlapping is demarcated by how we measure the differing responses between ourselves and the rest of the audience: do they laugh when we dont (and what does that mean?); are they moved when we feel like laughing (and what does that say about me or the others) etc. The idea behind this podcast is to satiate the urge I sometimes have when I see a movie alone to eavesdrop on what others say. What do they think? How does their experience compare to mine? Snippets are overhead as one leaves the cinema and are often food for thought. A longer snippet of such an experience is what I hope to provide: its two friends chatting immediately after a movie. Its unrehearsed, meandering, slightly convoluted, certainly enthusiastic, and well informed, if not necessarily on all aspects a particular work gives rise to, certainly in terms of knowledge of cinema in general and considerable experience of watching different types of movies and watching movies in different types of ways. Its not a review. Its a conversation." - José Arroyo."I just like the sound of my own voice." - Michael Glass.

Episodios

  • 41 - Downsizing

    01/02/2018 Duración: 27min

    Mike is in a tailspin of grief. José likes Matt Damon and little else. It's Downsizing, a film that looked good in the trailers. Ostensibly a light satire on middle class life and aspiration, it leads us into discussions of its attempt to weave several themes together, its lack of humour, the way it constructs its worlds, whether its use of stereotypes drifts into offensiveness, and most importantly, how unbelievably tedious it is. Mike reminisces about the few movies he saw at the cinema that inspired him enough to leave the film for a bit to play on his phone, or just leave. And Sideways is rubbish too. Recorded on 1st February 2018.

  • 40 - Call Me by Your Name

    28/01/2018 Duración: 35min

    José revisits Call Me by Your Name, Luca Guadagnino's romantic Bildungsroman, and re-evaluates it, both seeing some flaws where he initially hadn't and also continuing to appreciate it in ways he had. It's Mike's first time seeing it, and he appreciates it from a distance but is primarily consumed with rage at his own lack of any type of this fun during his teenage years. And to make matters worse, José tests him on his knowledge of Judaism, revealing him to be a fraud of a Jew. Recorded on 28th January 2018.

  • 39 - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Second Screening

    27/01/2018 Duración: 46min

    Feeling he gave it short shrift the first time, Mike's keen to revisit Three Billboards, and drags José along for the ride. With the clumsy handling of race issues clouding the film less, we pick up on listener feedback that leads us into ruminations on Frances McDormand's Mildred, particularly her defiance of the misogynist society in which she lives and zealous attitude towards collective responsibility, and whether the character arc of Sam Rockwell's Dixon truly is a redemptive one. We also double down on our criticism of the film's use of derogatory terms, Mike's been reading about Flannery O'Connor on Wikipedia, and we consider what would have been gained and lost had the film been written and directed by the Coens. Recorded on 26th January 2018.

  • 38 - Coco

    23/01/2018 Duración: 21min

    (Mind out for spoilers, we don't do a good job of warning of them here. After the plot synopsis at the beginning, expect spoilers throughout.) Pixar's extraordinarily vivid, rich Coco tells the story of a young Mexican boy who dreams of life as a musician, stranded in the Land of the Dead. Themes of sacrifice for family, liberation and expression through music, remembrance and commemoration of loved ones and more are explored, and a culture that is typically ignored or stereotyped - or walled off if a certain someone has his way - is allowed to explode onto the cinema screen. It's as warm, funny, and imaginative as anything you'll see all year, and we adore it. José is reminded of his dear abuelita. Mike cries. Recorded on 23rd January 2018.

  • 37 - The Post

    22/01/2018 Duración: 51min

    Spielberg. Streep. Hanks. Nixon. A political thriller that adopts some clichés and slightly sidesteps some expectations, The Post is a historical drama that follows the internal conflict at the Washington Post during the Pentagon Papers scandal. We find plenty to talk about in its parallels with the Trump White House and the current President's attacks on the news media; its careful but stilted style; its relationship to the 70s cinema it evokes; its central figure of a woman out of place in a world of men; and the balance between its nationalistic boosterism of the US Constitution and American exceptionalism on the one hand, and on the other, its surprisingly direct denunciation of the powers that be in Washington. You can literally hear Mike learning about the Nixon era, live! Also discussed: Mike loves Bridge of Spies, José doesn't love Bridge of Spies, Mike thinks Spotlight is uniquely brilliant, José espouses his theory on Meryl Streep's stardom, and old people are pricks. Recorded on 22nd January 2018

  • 36 - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

    20/01/2018 Duración: 39min

    An extraordinary, near-Shakespearian meditation on misdirected rage, guilt and grief, deeply marred by clumsy lunging into a loud theme of racism and a strong sense that the film neither knows nor especially cares about the culture it's portraying. Frances McDormand excels as the bullish, bellicose, foul-mouthed mother, but the film suffers as it shifts its focus to Sam Rockwell's stereotypical racist hick. The central premise is brilliant; its treatment is ultimately uneven, and although there are elements we absolutely adore, we can't get its lurches between tones out of our heads. Rewarding to watch, though, and it would benefit from a second viewing. Recorded on 18th January 2018.

  • 35 - Darkest Hour

    20/01/2018 Duración: 32min

    A chamber piece about history which evokes a combination of Rembrandt and an old photograph. We discuss how Joe Wright might be getting short shrift as a director and the excellence of the performances: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn and Lily James are all marvellous. We discuss how the film is not the life of Churchill but a few defining weeks in his life, and how it depicts the political side of the chaos in Nolan’s Dunkirk. Mike highlights how the cemeteries of Belgium and northern France tell a very different story from the official one in relation to Britain’s ‘going it alone’ in the two World Wars, and declares that one scene of clearly fabricated fantasy undermines any notion of historical verisimilitude. We discuss how the film’s emotional manipulations are cheap but how one finds oneself responding to the film’s jingoism. We are in agreement that Nigel Farage wants to be Oldman’s man-of-the-people Churchill – the entire film is rather Brexity. José would really like to see a film

  • 34 - Jumanji - Welcome To The Jungle

    17/01/2018 Duración: 50min

    Boy oh boy, there's a lot to talk about, and the word of the day is denial. Specifically, Mike's unspoken, subcutaneous, existential denial that 1995's Jumanji is crucially meaningful to him, because how else can you explain the tension in the air as he grapples with the simple question, "Do you recommend the new Jumanji?" Ironic, really. The new Jumanji depicts characters who are forced to confront harsh truths about themselves, and in doing so forces Mike to confront the fact that he can talk about Jumanji for an hour with very little prompting. And that new Jumanji provides a surprising amount of food for thought. We discuss how the film uses and satirises videogames, how much it made us laugh, the Jonas Brothers, Mike being a sucker for a happy ending as usual and José rolling his eyes, the stereotypes from which the central characters are built, how the film has its sexist cake and eats it, the ways the stars play off each other and suit their roles, aspects of performance, the muddled nature of the wor

  • 33 - Z

    14/01/2018 Duración: 51min

    We visit a French-Algerian political thriller from 1969. It also happens to be a bona fide classic that won a ton of awards, enjoyed great popularity, and even succeeded in markets where it was subtitled or dubbed. Neither of us has seen it before; both of us are glad our first encounter with it was on a cinema screen. We discuss its relevance to society today - the reason the mac is screening it, no doubt - the precision and economy of its editing and storytelling, its control of information, its title, its geographical setting, its surprising sense of humour, and indeed something we both found left rather a bad taste in the mouth. We also run down the eleven films from 1969 that outperformed it at the US box office, and José learns about The Stewardesses. Recorded on 14th January 2018.

  • 32 - Mountains May Depart

    14/01/2018 Duración: 50min

    Mike's brother corrects our pronunciation of director Jia Zhangke's name, helping us settle into a discussion of his ambitious, deeply moving tale of friendship and loss that spans two and a half decades. We talk about motifs of keys and coats, themes of capitalism and home, the changing aspect ratios and clarity of the image, the documentary feel to its portrayal of Fenyang and the way of life there, and much more besides. We admire almost everything and still can't get Go West out of our heads. Recorded on 11th January 2018.

  • 31 - Human Flow

    10/01/2018 Duración: 35min

    Ai Weiwei brings displaced peoples from across the world together in his documentary on the global refugee crisis. We discuss their plight, the film's use of poetry, Weiwei's imagery, and the countless ways in which he humanises people who are insulted, ignored, used as bargaining chips, and condemned to lives of confinement with no end in sight. Recorded on 9th January 2018.

  • 30 - Happy End

    08/01/2018 Duración: 44min

    Michael Haneke's precise, layered Happy End takes on - what else? - the bourgeoisie, and sees Eavesdropping welcome 2018 and iTunes availability at last! Opening with praise for the extraordinary image quality provided by the mac's 4K projector, we consider the film's surprising comic sensibility, its observation of different social strata, how our expectations shaped our experiences of what we saw (or didn't see), Haneke's careful craft and subtle subversions of cinematic conventions, and his continued exploration of violence as a central theme. And, finally, in a revelation to rival Psycho and The Sixth Sense, we nervously admit that we enjoyed the film as one would enjoy a Hollywood comedy or a trip to the zoo. Even now it's tough to come to terms with that. Perhaps that is Haneke's greatest achievement and truest subversion. We never before knew that he wanted us to have a good time. Recorded on 7th January 2018.

  • 29 - Molly's Game

    02/01/2018 Duración: 28min

    Eavesdropping celebrates the New Year with a snappy, sharp crime flick about the world of underground, high-stakes poker. We discuss the material's weakness, our different takes on Molly's character, the film's descent into schmaltz, daddy issues, Sorkin's directorial mediocrity, the audience's response to his dialogue, and the way Star Wars is dominating every bloody screen in every bloody cinema. At the end José makes Mike choke on his own laughter. Recorded on 1st January 2018.

  • 28 - The Greatest Showman

    30/12/2017 Duración: 19min

    José likes Zac Efron for once, but little else. Mike is an ITV snob and just wants the film to be more Communist. Listen in to find out how The Greatest Showman rounded out our 2017. Recorded on 27th December 2017.

  • 27 - Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi - Second Screening

    21/12/2017 Duración: 49min

    José and Mike return to a galaxy far, far away, in search of new perspectives and thoughts on The Last Jedi. Mike in particular has been itching to talk more about it since he feels he was unfairly lukewarm the first time. We ruminate on what makes Star Wars feel different to other sci-fi; how films feel tighter and shorter on second viewing; Han's dice; confusion on the resistance cruiser; why we still disagree about Mark Hamill's performance; whether a Jedi can survive in space; and the differences between the First Order and the Empire, and Hux's construction as a figure of fun. And in a shocking climax, José claims that Mike doesn't know anything about love. Recorded on 21st December 2017.

  • 26 - Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi

    19/12/2017 Duración: 49min

    It's beautiful to look at. It's populated with rich characters. Adam Driver is filmed as a Byronic hero, desperately romantic and at his sexiest. Matt Moore joins us for this discussion and points to how the film focuses on female characters and interestingly alters the focus of the series. We discuss how the film represents a shift from an aristocratic focus on blood and destiny to a more democratic purview on social change everyone, of whatever race or ethnicity, can engage in. Mike came out of the film gleefully playing with a lightsaber only to sit down and slash through what he saw as the film's weaker points, though he points out how Rian Johnson is the right director for the film and how, in spite of its faults, it truly does feel like a Star Wars film. Recorded on 17th December 2017.

  • 25 - The Red Turtle

    14/12/2017 Duración: 48min

    Our patient, deliberate conversation closely mirrors the feeling of The Red Turtle, Studio Ghibli's wordless, Oscar-nominated fable. We consider aesthetics, allegory, gender representation and subversion of genre amongst other issues this strange, delicate film raises. Also discussed are the experiences of cinema screenings and home viewing, and José finds time to get in another swipe at The Disaster Artist. Recorded on 14th December 2017.

  • 24 - The Disaster Artist

    13/12/2017 Duración: 22min

    Cinema's biggest in-joke is dramatised in James Franco's fan project about the worst film ever made. We discuss the mean-spirited nature of finding films so bad they're good, the lack of direction in The Disaster Artist, the quality of Franco's central performance, and why we find the film so self-indulgent. Recorded on 11th December 2017.

  • 23 - Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

    04/12/2017 Duración: 26min

    We begin with an embarrassing admission from Mike and some reminiscences of stars past from José before discussing Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, a biopic of Gloria Grahame's relationship with a younger man, which features two towering performances and not very much else. For once, Mike doesn't believe it's his terrible cruelty that prevents him from crying in a film - but what, then, is it? Also - thoughts on The Electric in Birmingham, the UK's oldest working cinema. Why don't we discuss it more? It's independent, it's notable, it should be an art house. We finally get around to it. Recorded on 3rd December 2017.

  • 22 - Paddington 2

    26/11/2017 Duración: 35min

    Paddington returns to cinemas with a whimsical puff of upper middle class smoke from a lovely old warm cosy steam train. How nice. Mike wasn't really looking forward to this. So. Did he make it through Paddington 2? What do we make of the vision of Britain it constructs? How does its action outperform Justice League's? Is it fair to think of it as just Wes Anderson but somehow even more revoltingly cutesy? Is there anything wrong with outrageous accents? Isn't Hugh Grant great, honestly? Recorded on 26th November 2017.

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